49ers begin hunt for cornerbacks

By Cam Inman, Bay Area News Group

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

SANTA CLARA — Cornerback is one of the 49ers’ top positions of need this offseason, and a parade of prospects surely will be vetted. First among them is veteran Vontae Davis, a younger brother of former 49ers tight end Vernon Davis.

Davis, 29, is meeting with the 49ers on Tuesday after taking free-agent visits last week to the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, ESPN reported.

Tuesday also marked the opening of the franchise-tag window through May 6, although the 49ers are not expected to use that designation on any of their potential free agents after signing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo earlier this month.

Perhaps the top cornerback slated for free agency is Trumaine Johnson, a 6-foot-2 Stockton native who played the past two seasons under the Los Angeles Rams’ franchise tag.

The 49ers cornerback corps needs a new starter on the outside opposite Ahkello Witherspoon, who blossomed last season as a rookie, while K’Waun Williams returns as the starting nickel back.

Dontae Johnson, a 16-game starter last season, is ticketed for free agency next month. He totaled two interceptions the past four seasons, and he had a team-high 76 tackles last season as a popular target for opposing quarterbacks.

Davis is a nine-year veteran who did not play the second half of last season, undergoing groin surgery and getting released by the Indianapolis Colts. He was a 2009 first-round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins, who traded him in 2012 to the Colts, where he made the Pro Bowl in the 2014 and ’15 seasons.

Other cornerbacks on the 49ers roster are Greg Mabin, Tyvis Powell and Channing Stribbling. Leon Hall and Asa Jackson are pending free agents.

The only 49ers cornerbacks to make the Pro Bowl since 1996 are Walt Harris (2006) and Carlos Rogers (2011).

The 49ers have re-signed three players in the past month: Garoppolo, center Daniel Kilgore and defensive end Cassius Marsh.

“You’re always better off re-signing your own guys, because in free agency you get to have a cup of coffee with the dude before you realize you have to pay him what you have to pay him, barely having time to figure out who he is as a guy,” Paraag Marathe, the 49ers’ chief contract negotiator, said Feb. 9 at Garoppolo’s press conference.